Dr. Sandra Morgan and Dave Stachowiak talk to Dr. Michael Hanna about how addiction is actually a brain disease and that treating addiction is a very complicated task that involves the mind, body, and soul.
Key Points

The 5 Cs of Addiction: Control (loss of), Compulsive use, Continued Use, Consequences, and Cravings
Addiction is a loss of control and continued use despite negative consequences.
Addicts already know it’s bad for them — you don’t need to convince them.
Most addicts don’t get the high that they used to — they’re just trying to maintain a sense of normalcy.
Addiction is not a willpower issue — it is a physiological response.

Resources

Addiction is a disease. We should treat it like one.
Transcending addiction and redefining recovery | TEDxBoulder
Brain Function can Recover after a Year of Abstinence from Methamphetamine
All in Our Heads: How the Brain Creates Addiction

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Transcript
Dave: [00:00:00] You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 166, The Science of Addiction with Dr. Michael Hanna.

Production Credits: [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:33] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, just about every episode we do try to zero in on all those, and sometimes a specific one. And I have a feeling today studying the issues and learning more about especially addiction, is going to be key as far as a big takeaway from this conversation.

Sandie: [00:00:58] Well I'm excited to have as our guest, my colleague from Vanguard University, Dr. Michael Hanna. And he teaches at Vanguard neurobiology and he was a neurobiology lab teacher at UCI, he was adjunct faculty at Mount San Antonio Community College and Los Angeles Trade Technical College before he came to Vanguard. And he has a lot of experience in substance abuse, neurological disorders, developmental disorders. And he is also involved in tutoring and college prep programs for high school youth in Orange County. So, he's absolutely our kind of guy. I sat down with him and had a conversation, and all the things that I want to read now, I am just so thrilled. Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, Michael.

Michael: [00:01:57] Thank you very much for having me.

Sandie: [00:01:59] So let's start off with our first question. What is an addiction?

Michael: [00:02:06] One of the ways I like addressing addiction is by C's because unfortunately a lot of times we use that term addiction so lightly. You know I'm addicted to ice cream, I'm addicted to candy, but I think five C's kind of comprise what real addiction is. And one of them is a loss of control, this inability to stop whenever you want to. And most people that are actually addicts, will tell you I really do want to stop but I just can't. So that's one of them. You know this compulsive drug use that's kind of the second thing that I think of. And then a big one is continued use, despite negative consequences. People even though they know that it's just harming their lives and it's just causing all of these problems, and they logically notice stuff, they continue to use this. And then the last one that I think of is this strong craving for these drugs. And you know some that are just almost impossible or very difficult to overcome these cravings.